Asheville tourism projects deserve another look

Worthy plans go without funding

2:04 PM,
Mar. 30, 2013

The city of Asheville asked the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority for $1 million from TDA hotel tax money to build the first phase of a major greenway expansion. The TDA did not fund the project. In this Citizen-Times file photo, Kate Fisher and Andrea Freeman jog along the greenway at Carrier Park in the spring of 2012.

Written by

Jason Sandford

The Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority left a hefty amount of cash on the table last week when it decided to fund only three of 15 proposals seeking money from its Tourism Product Development Fund.

The TDA left about $650,000 unspent from its $2 million hotel tax pool. Legislation approved in 2001 increased the county's hotel tax from 3 to 4 percent. That extra 1 cent was designated to be spent on building projects that would directly increase hotel room stays by creating new attractions or improving existing ones.

In a meticulous review of all the proposals, a board committee said ...